West fears Muslim countries will hijack UN Geneva racism conference

Intensive diplomatic efforts are under way to salvage a UN conference on combating racism amid western fears that Muslim countries may use it to attack Israel, restrict freedom of expression and promote Islamist views on religion and sexual orientation.

The World Conference Against Racism, due to open in Geneva on Monday, is a follow-up to a similarly named summit in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

That meeting saw vocal clashes over Palestine, the likening of Zionism to racism, and the legacy of slavery. It ended in disarray when the US and Israel walked out.

The decision of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran and a Holocaust denier, to attend this year's event has increased worries that the conference is being politicised.

Negotiations over a Durban II statement, to be issued at the end of next week, have been taking place for months and were continuing yesterday.

The US, Israel, Canada, and some European countries rejected a draft, and a modified version is under discussion.

Robert Wood, a US state department spokesman, said "objectionable" language had been removed from the draft, "including all language that singled out any one country or conflict and language that embraced the concept of defamation of religion, and that demanded reparations for slavery".

Wood said the US could still not accept any statement that reaffirmed what he called the flawed 2001 Durban declaration, or any text that used "incitement to religious hatred" as a pretext for restricting freedom of expression. However, if these objections were overcome he suggested the Obama administration could reverse its decision to boycott the conference.

Britain is planning to attend but will insist on a balanced document that deals appropriately with issues such as antisemitism and Holocaust remembrance. The Foreign Office said: "We won't support a process that results in a skewed outcome."

No consensus has emerged in Europe. Italy will not attend, while Germany, Denmark and Belgium have expressed reservations.

Muslims worldwide complain of Islamophobic tendencies in the west and have been angered by cartoons and films produced in Europe.

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), representing 56 countries, tried to have "defamation of religion" defined as racist behaviour. Western diplomats worry that the OIC and its allies could revert to their original stance when the conference goes into full session.

The civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has told Barack Obama that the US must attend. He said: "Nations are watching your administration ... reduced global participation would mark a significant setback."